Reversing course, Trump says 'NATO is no longer obsolete'

By

UPI Staff

President Donald Trump shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday. Pool Photo by Olivier Douliery/UPI | License Photo

President Donald Trump cups his ear to hear a reporter's question during a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg makes remarks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

April 12 (UPI) -- After months of criticizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, President Donald Trump reversed himself a bit on Wednesday, saying it's "no longer obsolete."

"I said it was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete," the president said at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House.

On a day when he changed his stance on several policy positions, Trump pledged his full support to NATO. As a presidential candidate, he criticized the alliance that's been in place since 1949 for being "disproportionately" expensive to the United States and ineffective in fighting terrorism.

In his remarks Wednesday, Trump called NATO a "bulwark of international peace and security."

"The secretary general and I had a productive discussion about what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism," Trump added. "I complained about that a long time ago, and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism."

Stoltenberg's visit came one day after Trump signed off Montenegro's membership to the alliance.